


Killing Time

by ladyjax



Category: The Expanse (TV), The Expanse Series - James S. A. Corey
Genre: AU-ish (for the books and the TV series), Gen, Slice of Life, Space Boredom, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-09 11:38:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8889322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax
Summary: Things you do in space when you're on the milk run.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pantsoffdanceoff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pantsoffdanceoff/gifts).



> This includes a smidgen of your prompts, pantsoffdanceoff. Also leans a little bit more on the book side but from your letter you mentioned you'd gotten up to Caliban's War. This exists as side piece after the end of that book.

Naomi slipped into the kitchen and walked over to the coffee dispenser. She leaned against the bulkhead as the warm liquid poured into her cup, the scent barely making a dent in her already tired senses.

"Hey."

She scooped up her mug just as Holden walked up. The quickest brush of lips against her cheek as he passed but she appreciated the gesture.

"I finally found that one accessory pathway that'd been giving Alex trouble," she said. She sat down at the table and leaned back in her chair, letting the warmth of the coffee seep into her hands. No matter that she wore gloves to do much of the work when she was deep in the bowels of the Roci. It didn't stop the cramping when she'd been gripping tools for too long. 

"Anything else?" Holden asked quietly. 

"Not really. Next go round out to Tycho we should put in and have the crew there do a quick walk through. Other than that, we’re good to go."

Holden nodded. Naomi looked at him closely, noting the dark circles under his eyes. She knew she didn’t look much better. They were all feeling a little fried. A four person crew running a ship that could hold many more personnel was a challenge most days. Escorting ships that were helping resupply and rebuild Ganymede meant good money but it meant hours that felt like they stretched longer than they normally would.

Holden got to his feet and poured himself some coffee. “I’m going up to the bridge,” he said. “Care to join me?”

Naomi topped off her own cup and followed.

They arrived to find Alex in the pilot’s chair and Amos sitting at one of the duty stations deep in conversation. 

"What’s up?" Holden asked as he and Naomi took seats of their own.

"Not a whole heck of a lot,” Alex replied. “Me and Amos here were just talking about traditions.”

Naomi sipped her coffee. “What kind of traditions?”

"Ship to ship. Planet-side too,” he replied. “Don’t know that much about Belter stuff though.”

“We’re not that big a mystery, Alex,” Naomi replied with a laugh.

"Been to Mars once," Amos offered. "Passing through mostly so I didn't have a lot of time to see anything."

"Founder's Day is the big celebration. Everybody turns out for it," Alex said with some enthusiasm. "Usually there's a lot of speeches but everyone just tolerates it so we can get to the good stuff."

"The good stuff being?" Holden asked.

"Drinking, apparently,” Amos replied with a mocking twist of his lips. It made him look a little more sinister than he usually did. 

“Making merry,” Alex returned with some emphasis. “Always someone trying to spoil it though. Usually some holy folk who don’t know how to have fun. Christer missionaries always swear that we're going to die from sin which just sets the other theists off.” Alex barked out a laugh. "People pretty much ignore them."

Holden sat thinking before he said, “My folks weren’t much for holiday stuff. They had the farm, they had me. That’s a lot of responsibility so trying to pin down any real formal celebrations wasn’t that much of a priority. Although, there was one year that we got a tree around solstice time. It’d come down in the woods and one of my fathers had the bright idea to set it up in the living room." He chuckled. "There was some thought that we'd put something on it. That didn’t happen. It was too big."

Naomi smiled. "I never picked you for the winter holiday type."

Holden rolled his eyes. "I was born in Montana. Not a whole lot to do once there's snow on the ground. And I mean a lot of snow."

Amos crossed his arms. "Didn't do a lot of celebrating on Earth," he said, his tone matter of fact. "Whole lot of other stuff going on didn't leave me much room for that."

If it were anyone else, you could probably poke or pry a little more but this was Amos. He'd tell you what he wanted you to know in time or he wouldn't. 

"First Spin.”

Naomi’s quiet voice cut into the brief silence. She was looking down at her coffee cup but raised her head when she realized that the other three were looking at her.

“I spent most of my childhood on ships but every kid in the belt is taught about First Spin. When Tycho spun up Ceres and Eros, it made life possible. Women will try to get to Ceres to have their kid.”

She sipped her coffee and continued. “First time I set foot on Ceres, I was 7 or 8. My mum’s friend was due to have her kid there. I thought we were just going to leave when she had it but we ended up staying for a bit. I kept busy, playing with some of the other kids on station. There’s this thing they do, they take you to where you can feel it.”

"The spin?”

“Mmmm hmm. Oldest part of the station.”

“That’s kind of dangerous,” Holden said. 

Naomi smiled. “Not when you’re a kid and think you’re invincible. I thought I was old hat, growing up on a ship. This was different.”

“Everybody’s different out here,” Alex observed. “Mars, the Belt. Maybe that’s why we chafe so much with Earth.” He nodded at Amos and Holden. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Amos replied as Holden gave a wave.

“I practically ran away to space,” he said. “I wasn’t cut out to be dirt side.”

“I used to wonder what it would be like to live on a planet,” Naomi said. “I mean, what Belter didn’t at least once?”

“Ah, the romance of Earth.” Amos said sarcastically. “Trust me, ain’t a whole lot to see there.” 

Naomi shrugged. “Kids' fantasies. I grew out of it pretty quick. Besides, I was made to be in space. It’s my home.”

The conversation dropped off then as Alex turned around to monitor some of the ships that they were escorting. Naomi turned her attention to the ship’s read outs as did Holden and Amos. 

“Huh. Message coming in.” 

Alex’s voice caught everyone’s attention.

“Who from?” Holden asked. If Naomi didn’t know better, she’d swear that he sounded more than a little hopeful.

“That Meng fella. Praxadike.”

Naomi asked, “Play it for us, would you, Alex?” 

The shy researcher’s voice came through the speaker:

_This is a message for the crew of the Rocinante.  
When you return to Ganymede, my daughter   
and I would like to have you over for dinner.   
Please let us know if you accept._

“Huh, that’s new,” Amos said ruefully. “Someone actually wants to see us.”

“And they’re not shooting at us,” Alex added. “I like that even better.”

Naomi rubbed a hand over her face. “It’d be nice to see them again.” She looked around at her crew mates who clearly thought she’d lost her mind. “Okay, we need to get off this ship for a bit. I’m willing to sit through dinner to get a change of scenery.”

“Are you trying to say you’re tired of our sterling company?” Holden quipped.

“If I tell you that we’re all just one step away from stir crazy, would you believe it?”

“Yes.” “Hell yeah.” These came from Alex and Amos respectively.

“I can take a hint,” Holden said. “Alex, let the man know we’ll see him in a few days.”

Naomi leaned over and whispered, “Wise choice.”


End file.
